Shoe upper trimming machine



Oct. 6, 1953 M. H. RosKE SHOE' UPPER 'rRIuuING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 25, 1952 l Inl Inventor /Vilton H Hoske By his Attorney M. H. ROSKE SHOE UPPER TRIMMING MACHINE v Oct. 6, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 25, 1952 In Vento?" [Wilton f1'. Hoske his Attoey Patented Oct. 6, 1953 SHOE `UPP'ER TRIMIWING MACHINE Milton H.. Roske, 'Malden, Mass., assignmto United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 25, 1952, Serial No. 311,409

(Cl. lf2-57.6)

6 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for `trimming the margins of shoe uppers about their toe end portions to prepare the uppers for toe lasting, and in particular, it relates to a cutting machine for forming a serrated border about the edge of a workpiece, thereby providing a continuous series of notches, commonly referred to as pinking.

In the making of shoes, and particularly in the construction of shoes made with thick upper materials, after the upper has been stretched over the last in the pulling-over operation, it is frequently necessary to trim out, and even skive, portions of the excess lasting margin in order that, after being wiped over the bottom of the rounded toe portion, there will not be an excess of material to cause thick overlying pleats which would result in bulges and creases about the toe of the finished shoe.

It is an object of this invention to provide a pinking machine which will operate rapidly and cut cleanly to remove accurately the excess marginal material from about the curved toe of a shoe upper after it has been assembled on a last and initially stretched in the pulling-over material along a cutting path having a pattern contoured such as to provide for an optimum amount and location of the material remaining to be employed for fastening the upper to 'the bottom of the toe portion. In this respect it has been found most desirable to form the cut around the toe and along a wavy line, thus producing a series of tongue-shaped extensions of material spaced apart by similarly shaped notches from which the surplus material has been cut away. Further objects of the invention are to prolong the useful life of both the cutting die and its cooperating pressure bed against which the cutting force of the die is exerted, valso to provide for rapidly replacing the worn dies and cutting beds with new ones,

With these objects in View, a feature of this invention is the provision of a machine having two conic-shaped rotary rolls pressed together, one carrying a cutting die about its peripheral side, and the other cooperating in side-by-side relation to act as a cutting bed for the 'rotary die when a workpiece is inserted in the bite of the rolls. Another feature is that the rolls yare so constructed and rotated as to produce -a mutually cooperative action between the rolls Whereby they simultaneously feed and 'trim the workpiece without the necessity of skillful manipulation on the part of the operator. To this end the roll carrying the cutting die is rotatably driven about a fixed axis, and its periphery is in the form of a continuous cutting die of zig-zag configura-tion. The other conical roll, which serves as a cutting bed for the rotary die, is geared to the rst roll so that the respectively contiguous or contacting portions of both rolls rotate concomitantly at the same rate of speed, whereby during each revolution the same points on both rolls will always lcome in contact with each other. The accomplishment of this feature is highly important to prevent the sharp die edges from coming into random contact with theperiphery of the cutting bed, for such an occurrence would soon mangle the entire surface of the cutting bed and produce a rapid vdulling of the die edges. When, however, all adjacent portions of the respective conic rolls rotate at the same speed, the wearing action between the die and its cutting bed will merely produce, after considerable use, a single continuous groove in the surface of the cutting bed, into which groove the pattern of the die edges will fit precisely during each revolution of the rolls.

When the toe portion of an upper is presented to a pinking machine, the Vsurplus lasting margin is usually flared outward so that the distances of the circumferential paths around the toe end increase progressively with'the outward radial distances yof the paths away from the edge of the shoe. In such a situation it is very dimcult for an operator, when using a conventional pinking machine having a straight-through feeding means, to rmanipulate the shoe so that the pinking cut follows the sharply curved contour of the toe edge. Accordingly, a further advantageous feature of the invention is that, when a workpiece is inserted in the bite of the rotating ccnic rolls, that material which is more remotely spaced from the rounded edge of the shoe will be fed faster than the material nearer to the edge due to the fact that the peripheral surface speed of the rolls is greater toward the base or larger portion of the rolls, and it is this portion which engages with those areas of the upper material which are required to be fed at a faster 3 rate of speed in order to feed the work between the rolls in the curved path.

With the above and other objects and features in view, the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and will thereafter be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a left side elevation, partially broken away, illustrating a pinking machine constructed in accordance with the present invention, and viewed in its at-rest position;

Fig. 2 is a left side elevation showing parts of the machine and a workpiece operatively positioned between the rolls;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view illustrating a detail of the invention; and

Fig. 4 is a top sectional view illustrating the cutting and feeding action of the rolls during their operation upon the workpiece.

Referring now to the drawings and in particu- Alar to Fig. l, the operating head of the illustrated machine comprises a hollow head housing member I2, providing a fixed framework for the operating parts of the machine. This housing has a forwardly extending top portion I4 projecting beyond the lower sides of the housing to provide space for the work to be operatively presented to the operating parts of the machine. A vertical drive shaft I6 extending downward into the space beneath the frame portion I4 is rotatably mounted adjacent to both of its ends in ball bearing assemblies I8 and 20, each confined within a fitted recess in the frame. The shaft I6 is driven by a suitable gear train comprising a gear 22 afllxed to the upper end of the shaft and in mesh with a second gear 24, which in turn is driven through a power shaft 26 extending from a speed reduction gear box 28 which is coupled to a motor 30. Keyed t0 the lower end of the shaft IG, Fig. 2, is an operating roll 32 on the peripheral face of which is formed a cutting die 34. An insole engaging work holddown member in the form of a cap 36 having smooth surface portions is attached to the end of the shaft I6 by a screw.

The rotary presser roll assembly, which cooperates with the die to provide a work feed and cutting bed for the die, is axially supported within a bracket member 38, the upper end of which is pivotally mounted in the upper housing portion I4 by a pair of trunnions 40 extending outward from either side of the bracket and journaled in the housing. A rotary shaft 42, Fig. 1, is axially mounted within the bracket on ball bearing assemblies 44 and 46. A conically shaped presser roll 48 is keyed to the lower end of the shaft 42 and retained thereon by a cap 50 screwed to the end of the shaft. The rotary shaft 42 is driven by a bevel gear 52 pinned to the shaft and in mesh with another bevel gear 54 keyed to the driven shaft I6. These gears are of identical size and are each provided with the same number of teeth thereby assuring that their respective shafts each rotate at an equal speed. In addition it is to be noted that the depth of the teeth in these gears is suicient to permit the gears to remain in mesh during a limited pivotal movement of the shaft 42 in a direction away from the shaft I6. The rotary presser roll assembly and its supporting bracket 38 must be pivotally movable away from the cutting die assembly to allow for the insertion of work between their respective operating rolls. For this purpose a movable toggle arrangement, which is treadle operated to straighten the toggle and thereby pivot the roll 48 forcefully into cooperative contact with the cutting die 34, is attached to the lower rear portion of the bracket 38. As will be seen from the illustrations, this pivotal arrangement comprises a link 56 having its forward end pivotally connected to the bracket by a bolt 58 and its other end pivotally connected by a pin 60 to a rearwardly extending bifurcated arm 62 of a toggle lever 64 pivotally mounted on a fixed pin 66 secured in side portions of the machine frame. The toggle lever 64 is biased to move in a counterclockwise direction about the pin 66 by a tension spring 68 exerting a rearward pull upon an upwardly extending arm 10 of the toggle lever. A treadle operated rod 12 is connected to the lever 64 at a position between the pins 60 and 66 so that downward movement of the treadle rod will cause the lever 64 to swing in a clockwise direction against the tension of the spring and thereby straighten and lock the toggle in its straightened position as illustrated in Fig. 2. The link 56 has a perpendicular arm 14, disposed adjacent to the toggle arm 10, providing a mounting for an adjustable motionlimiting screw 16 which, when the toggle is locked, may be set to adjust the proximity of the cutting die edges with respect to the surface of the roll 48. As previously mentioned, a continuous groove, exactly complementing the contour of the die cutting edges, may be worn eventually into the surface of the presser roll 46, and, when this occurs, this screw 16 may be readjusted t0 cause the edges of the die to continue to forcefully bear against the bottom of the groove and thereby continue to produce an accurate clean cutting of the material. When it is desired to replace either of the operating rolls with a new one, it is only necessary to unscrew the cap from the end of its shaft and then slide the roll off its keyway.

It is to be understood that the rotation of the operating rolls is continuous, it not being necessary to stop the machine between successive trimming operations. Furthermore, the operating rolls are so designed and disposed with respect to one another that, in order to rapidly and accurately trim a toe portion, all the operator does is present the shoe, bottom side up, and with its side edge portion of the margin M (Fig. 4) positioned in the space between the two rolls. When thus positioned the operator merely depresses the treadle to force the rolls into cooperating cutting contact with one another, thereby commencing the trimming and feeding of the work. Once the rolls have obtained a bite upon the upper material the trimming progresses automatically to its completion, it only being necessary for the operator to support the rear of the shoe so as to maintain the bottom of the shoe substantially perpendicular to the axis of the cutter shaft. When the side edge E (Fig. 4) of the margin, opposite from the marginal edge M, is reached by the feeding action of the rolls the trimmed-off border portion falls clear and the completely trimmed shoe is thereby released from the machine.

While the invention has been illustrated as embodied in a toe pinking machine provided with a cutting die member rotatably driven about a vertical axis, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be construed as limited to a machine for trimming only shoe uppers, nor is it to be limited in any way to a machine having the axis of its die cutter disposed as illustrated, be-

cause it is obvious that, in operating upon certain types of work, it might be more convenient, for the manipulation of the work, to orient the rollsl differently.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a pinking machine for trimming the marginal border of a workpiece along a curved path, a. driven cutting roll member operatively rotatable about a xed axis and having thereon a die the cutting edges of which are peripherally disposed in the shape of a conic, and a conical presser roll member rotating concomitantly with said cutting roll about an axis inclined to the axis of the cutting roll so that both rolls are disposed in contiguous side-by-side relation with one another, whereby a workpiece, when presented in the bite of the rolls, will be simultaneously fed and trimmed.

2. In a pinking machine for trimming the marginal border of a workpiece along a curved path, a cutting roll member operatively rotatable about a fixed axis and having thereon a die the cutting edges of which are peripherally disposed in the shape of a conic, a conical presser roll member rotatable about an axis inclined to the axis of the cutting roll so that both rolls are disposed in contiguous side-by-side relation with one another, and means for driving said rolls conv comitantly, whereby a workpiece, when presented in the bite of the rolls, will be simultaneously fed and trimmed.

3. In a pinking machine for trimming the marginal border of a workpiece along a curved path, a rotary cutting die member having a continuousedge cutting knife of a wavy pattern the peripheral edge of which knife is disposed on the member in the shape of a conic, and a rotary presser member operatively associated with said die member in contiguous side-by-side relation, said members being axially driven upon the ends of separate shafts which are inclined toward one another and geared so as to rotate concomitantly, whereby the edge of the cutting knife beds against and rolls upon the peripheral surface of the presser member to thereby feed and trim a workpiece when presented in the bite of the members.

4. In a pinking machine for trimming the marginal border of a workpiece along a curved path,

a rotary cutting die member having a continuousedge cutting knife of a wavy pattern the peripheral edge of which knife is disposed on the member in the shape of a conic, a rotary presser member operatively associated with said die member in contiguous side-by-side relation, said members being axially mounted upon the ends of separate shafts which are inclined toward one another, and means for concomitantly rotating said shafts and members, whereby the edge of the cutting knife beds against and rolls upon the peripheral surface of the presser member to thereby feed and trim a workpiece when presented in the bite of the members.

5. In a pinking machine for trimming the marginal border of a workpiece along a curved path, a rotary cutting die member the knife edges of which are disposed in a wavy pattern along an imaginary conical surface, `a drive shaft on the lower end of which said die member is operatively mounted, a second shaft having its lower end inclined toward the lower end of the iirst shaft and carrying thereon a rotary member having a conical cutting bed surface disposed tangentially to the rotary knife edges, a pivotal mounting for the second shaft, whereby the axial inclination of the shafts toward one another may be varied to move the second member toward and away from the first-mentioned member, and power driven means for rotating said shafts and members concomitantly, whereby a workpiece, when presented in the bite of the members, will be simultaneously fed and trimmed.

6. In a pinking machine for trimming the marginal border of a workpiece along a curved path, two concomitantly driven conical rotary roll members, one provided with a raised cutting edge, and the other provided with a cutting bed surface cooperatively engageable with said raised edge, said members being tangentially disposed with their smaller diameters respectively adjacent each other, means tending normally to hold said members slightly spaced apart to receive a workpiece therebetween, and manually actuated means for positively forcing said members into engagement to thereby feed and trim a workpiece when presented in the bite of the members.

MILTON H. ROSKE.

No references cited. 

